BARBADOS' MANUFACTURING SECTOR and cultural industries stand to benefit significantly under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Carlos Wharton, a trade consultant with the Barbados Private Sector trade team who attended EPA negotiations over the past two years on behalf of the private sector, spoke to BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY at length during a wide-ranging interview last Wednesday about the pros and cons of the agreement.

With reference to the immediate impact of the EPA, he said the manufacturing sector would continue to export most goods to the European Union duty-free.

Additionally, said Wharton, the EPA in some instances has more favourable rules-of-origin criteria, making it easier for some local producers to export to that market.

Another plus, he said, was the agreed protocol for cultural cooperation which would boost the island's art, film and music industries.

"It [the protocol] can give us some foundation to boost our exports not only to the European community, but we have to accept the fact that we have some European brothers and sisters in the Caribbean who would buy our cultural products, and would buy more of them had we taken advantage of the opportunities that now exist with EPA."

In the area of development cooperation, Wharton said, the EPA would assist CARIFORUM countries in complying with EU Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures.

He deemed these measures very important and urged Government to address them urgently to allow Caribbean milk products to be exported to the European market.

Without these EU measures in place, he said, Barbados could not under the Cotonou Agreement export any of its milk, meat or fish-based products to the European Community despite duty-free market access and West Indian demand in that market. (JW)